When the Kimball Art Center announced the lineup for its summer classes last week, a few new opportunities appeared on the schedule.
Among the offerings are combined classes for adults and children, paired classes for adults and children, a series of drawing courses and a new class with Spy Hop Productions.
“We’re trying to expand,” said Kimball Art Center education coordinator Annie Kennedy. “People are asking for summer classes.”
In addition to offering another beginners filmmaking class with Spy Hop after the first this past spring the Kimball will call in the Salt Lake City media education nonprofit to offer an intermediate filmmaking class in July.
With a film made by the spring filmmaking class and a couple of new movies on the way, the Kimball might have enough pieces to present a mini festival later this summer.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have three films we can screen at the Arts Festival,” said Kennedy.
While those works of art will be some rather public results from the Kimball’s classes, most of the rest will go home to grace the walls and refrigerators of students of all ages. Among those courses the two newest categories are the adult and child combined classes and the adult and child paired classes.
The combined classes offer a chance for parents to take a class with their children, while the paired classes will allow parents to take one class while their children take another.
The slate of combined classes includes two Wheel Thrown Ceramics classes for parents and children nine and older and a class called Making Memories for parents and children from ages three to seven.
“A lot of people asked me about taking classes with their kids,” said Kennedy.
She said the Kimball decided to program the paired classes so parents can take classes without worrying about childcare.
The pairs will include a Kids’ Drawing and Adult Ceramics, Kids’ Jewelry Making and Adult Jewelry Making, and Kids’ Clay and Adult Drawing.
Meanwhile, the drawing series will offer two different drawing classes children, one for kids ages four to seven and one for youth ages eight to 12. At the same time, the art center will have two adult drawing classes, including an introductory course and a figure drawing course.
Kennedy said the adult classes were made to help art students looking to improve their skills and for adults with a simple interest in drawing.
“A lot of kids need portfolio design and drawing is the most basic technical skill,” she noted.
One other course will cover some other artistic basics. Art 101 will be the single new entry among the adult classes.
“It’s sort of a survey of all the artistic mediums, and it includes art history,” Kennedy said.
The class, she noted will cover everything from painting to drawing and printmaking, along with mediums like collage, photography and sculpture. Anyone interested in learning more about art or working with a variety of media might be interested, she added.
For those looking for more in-depth skills the Kimball also has four other classes for adults Sculptural Welding, Oil Painting, Watercolor Painting and Introduction to Photography.
Kennedy said that from the classic adult offerings to the newest youth filmmaking classes, the Kimball is working to expand its slate of educational offerings.
“We’re constantly building program,” she said, “and I’m really excited about this.”
Those interested can sign-up online or at the Kimball. Kennedy noted that, even if a particular class doesn’t show up on the summer list, the art center still offers classes on demand one-time lessons about specific subjects.
“As long as we have a minimum of six students, we can do that,” she said.
But with the Kimball’s ever-expanding list of classes, fewer should have to take that option. The art center is offering more and more opportunities for education, and according to Kennedy, the organization will do so as long as it can find enough students.
For now though, Kennedy said she is focused on the art center’s current offerings.
“I think” she said, “we have a great lineup.”
For a full schedule of Kimball classes or to sign up, stop by the art center, visit www.kimball-art.org or call 649-9014.